[Sora Kurai]

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Draeck (d-ray-k) are some of the most notorious otherworldly beings that prey upon the Iqena. They have destroyed millions of the individuals over the past millennia and have successfully diminished the angelic cervidae numbers to nearly 10% of their original population. This October, another attack has been witnessed by innocent iqena. A handful of specimen have been captured and taken as a 'hostage'. The Draeck demand payment for these stolen iqena. But not of physical value.

What they want is knowledge.
Although the Draeck are far more powerful than the Iqena it is a compensation for the small cranial capacity they are capable of handling. Education is not something that is common within the numbers of these high tier predators unlike the Iqena. They do not speak any common tongue if any language at all. All they can supply are crude images of what they want to know more of. You're lucky they're being so generous to spare these precious lives for simple information...

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You wander inside the seemingly empty living space of the Draecks.
Nothing seems to live here at all.... Before you could form
another thought, a large winged beast lands before you.
Their large wings sending a gush of air into your face,
landing you speechless for brief moments. This was it...

A loud gurgling mess of noises erupts from the beast.

̪̗̰̞̳̗̫̦͉̪̗̰̞̳̗̫̦͉ ̗̪͝˙̷͕̬͎͘ͅu͍̼ǝ̵̵̮͖̰̝ ̯͈͙̩̫͘n̺͇͔̝̠̺̫̥̦͏̨b̶͈̼̝́ ̹͎̀ǝ̝̜͎̥̳͖̳̹͉͜ظ̸̨̺̤͈͚͢ ͇̼҉͝ʇ̨͈ǝ̷̰̼͓ ̧̼͔̺̣s̲̩͖͓̞͚̤ǝ̙̙͔̻͖͙͍̬͜͜͝n͍̗̹͙̯̭͟͞b̛͙͍͖͍͝ı̗̜̤͏̶̧p͈͢ ͓̩̘̫͈̖͔̳́s̨̖̺̮̼̳̦̲͡͝ı̧͔̦̼̬̖̖͜ן͍̭͍́͝d̫̪̘̺̲҉͘ǝ͙͈͟ɹ̱̥͙̣̩͏̛ ͓̰s̷̢̺͇̦ǝ̳̙̳̹̲̼ɥ̸̵̮̣̟͓ɔ͔̦͍̳͉͚̰̀͜ɹ̴̝̜̤ɐ̸̖̪̺͖̪͎͔̟̯ ̵̺͕ǝ̴̯͚̝̱͕̙̺͓̻͡ן͓̻͓̝̫̤̭͘d̸̲̮͈̞̰̥́͝ɯ̸̼͔̹̱͚̞̠̕ͅı̵̴͔̯͓s̸̛͎̰͙͝ ̬̰̥̣͉͞˙̹͔͖͖̙̲̱҉̀͘ʇ̸̛̘͙͉͚̻̮̬̲u̮̲̝̭͇̳ͅɐ̢͚ͅp̪̯̮̞̰ú̷̹͓ɐ̫̥͖̣̱̩͠ɯ̶̩̞̖̞
ɯ̨͙̭͉͜ó̩̥̻̝̫ɔ͕͈ ̷̬̪̙̠͙̥͢ͅʇ̸̡̨͔̳͈̱̣ı̹̙̠̕ɐ̹̺̣ǝ̭̙͖b̧̨̬̙̰͕̖͔̣ɐ̗͈͖̜͉͇ͅʇ̺̜̱̗̹̬̳̪͟͝ɹ̷̝̘̖͎ɐ̶͙̼҉d̛̳̭̟͕̻̗̝͏̡ ̗̗̹͇̼͕͉̭ǝ̢̭̤̬̻̣ظ͉̲̤ ̰͏͞n̖̳ͅ҉p̶̨̝͍̣̘͓̝̺ ̶͉̘̗͈̞̼͓͞ǝ̨̛̺͎̝̥͈ظ̩͖̯͞ ̴̰̦̮͍̣̥u̴̼̞͕̞̘͖ǫ̴̠͘ ̛͈̘̟̗̭͙́u͎̙͔o̷͓̼͚̞͍͞͞ı̵̨͇̻̘̫҉s̹̘͜ṣ̛̰̘̰̩̖͍̮͟ͅı͍̹͔͇͈̝̦̕ɯ̠͓̱͡ɹ͎͉̣̣̭̭͢ǝ̵͇͉̝d̪̫̺̥̗͍̻͘͘͡ ̖̱̬̕͞˙̨͔̜̞ǝ̠̠̘͖̻̲͔̮p̵̨̛͍͉̘͎͉̫͈ṵ̮̮͕͚ǫ̠̹̠͜͠ɹ̛̭̭̫̘ ̵͖̬͉̼̺̞̭̼͢ǝ̨̫̝ן̵̙͉͚̬̥͇̙̫̀ı̸̴͔͇͕̞̫̲̳̠͘ʇ̛̰ͅ҉̕ń̨͕̕ ̻̞ǝ̶̧͈͔ظ̴̧͍͙ ̘͡͞ǝ̵̺͇́ɔ̨̗̫̘̯ɹ̸̵̩̭͕̘̝ɐ̪̝͙̯̣d̷̢͙̼̬̲͓̱͠ ̶̮͚̦̣҉͝
ɥ̲̬̝͉͢҉ɐ̬̮̟͍̜͕̞̩̀͢͞ ̨̤ʇ̡̧͙̮͙̜̞̺̪u͉̞͙̫̠͉̣̞͘ɐ̣͘͏ʌ̨͚ɐ̼̼̳̞ͅ ̢̡̘̻ɐ̹̯͚̣̹̖̣̯͠ן̨̛͕̙̼͡ı̷̮̲҉o̬̜̲̺̩̕͘̕ʌ̱̲̼̻̣̜͇̕͡҉ ̬̲̙̙̞̀͟ų̴̗͕ı̸̴̰͖̦͙ʌ͓̝̲̝̟̙ı̸̻̮̱̺̗͍͝p̪͕̜̺̖̠͍͜ ̟̳̼͖͖̘͕͙͟˙̰̪̩̤͍̱̬͢s̰̮̮̰̯̝̫̭̕͞͞ɔ̛͔̱̥̳̪̬ͅɹ̵͙͍̘̣͕̲ͅɐ̧̛͓̘̹̩̠͝ͅ ̛̝̝͞ɹ̹̺̖̫̬̞̻̫͈͞ṋ̸̙͇͚̺͟o̵̤̣̲͚̼͕͚ظ̴̡̜͙̺͚̼̕ ̷̵̭̩̺̲͖͡x̴̦̟̣͔̱̹̀͠n̟̻̥̲̝͍ͅɐ̞͕̼͘͢ǝ̢̟̪͉̪̻̭̜̞͍͞ ͚̘͉d̘̘̘͍̟̘̗̼n̯̮̦͈̟̲̗̹̼͜o̧̰͚͘͠ɔ̸̦̹͡ ̱̺̺̥͔͓͈͞x̼̼̘̮͖̪̹͉n̫̟̗͉̳̲̫҉͘ǝ͎̹͇̺͡ͅʌ͇̙̩̯͙͇͎ ̢̘̰͙̥́͘n̶̷͇̝̥͔̤̫͖ͅǝ͖̯͟d̟̙̘͏̶̢ ̼̣̤͇͇̭̹̮ʇ̶̜̹̞̦̝͍̥̤͡n̵̟̮̻o͈͍͠ͅʇ̨̛̘̥̺̩̣̠͢ ͉ɹ͕̳̣͕͔͓̖̮
ɐ̗̖̣̰͈̼̗͞d̖̰̫̀͞ ̧̪̫̥͇͚͎͟˙̘͕̮̰ǝ̤͍͎̟̲̀͝ɔ̳͡ͅù̷̠̤̠̳ɐ̨͔͔͖͈͖̞̀͢s͉͙͏ı̨̖̭͈̫ɐ̡̝͈͎͎̗̝ ̹͉̻̝̳͈̀ͅx̘̗̱͕͙̰͡n͙̻ǝ̷̳͏ʌ̦͔̪̠͢҉ǝ̧̳̪̥̮̱̦ɥ̧̲̺͚͜ɔ͓͖̜̕ ̧̛̩̥̗͎ʇ͙̠͎̥̳̯̠u̢̞̘̤͕̖͚̮̰ı̳͔͖̙̬̬̞҉̕ʌ͕͚̀͝ɹ͇͕͢҉n̴͔̗͎̲͞s̗͍̖̖͘͞ ̪̖̲͕̳̩̦͢ư̳̙̖̻̼͜͢o̷̧̮̬̫̼͓̗ ̜̠͚͢ṷ͉͕̼̭̲̦̺n̠̰̬͓͍ ̵̘͈͙̙̞͝s̴̯͚̥̰̦͚u̪̙̣̟̳̤͢o̺̗̞͈̯̮҉ı̢̮̝͕̜̞ɹ̱͕͉̱̯̰͓̀͡n̡̻͓̕ͅɐ̥̮͙̞͙̣́ ̧͈̳͚͟ṳ͔̟͘͟o͈͝ ̸̡̙̘̣̬͚ʇ͔̣͎̰͉́ı̴͎͘ʇ̬͉̮̦̀͏̶ʇ̷̧̪̠̬̪̭͓̯͖̺ɐ̰̥̲̝̬̰͎q̠̤͉͉̺̝̤ɐ͕̠̱͍̣͉̩͡ ͎̘̜̣͟ʇ̵̷̨̪̯͔͉̜ͅͅͅǝ̸̭̦͇̹̮́ ̸̢̜̺͠ן͔͍́ı͙͈͓̮̘̮̦͜ǝ̧̙̪
ņ̸̺̞̱b̠̩̱ɹ̳͓̩̺̰̠̦͎͘͜o̘̜̜͝͡ ̩̬̳͈̯̮̣͓̳˙̶̶̦̭̳̗̜̹͜b̛̼̗̪̯͍̬̰͜u͍̠̰̣̪ɐ̸̹̼͈̼̠̜͕s͇͓̯ ̟̠͇͎̯̭͍̼͇͟ʇ̺n͕̥̯̠͚̖͎͚͢͡ɐ̻̱ɥ̢̦̳̳͢҉ ̧̢͕̺͞ǝ̡̘̹̟̗̮̫̣͇̕ʌ̡͚͚̤͎̩ǝ̩̞̮̣̠̠͏͟҉ɹ̢̫̙̮͓̤̤ ̤̟̪͟ͅʇ̡͚̘̞͕͟͡ͅų͙̰̬̳̜̕o̸̧̖̙̠̙̺̜͔d̴̢̼͎̲̻̠̙͍̻ ͙҉̴ן͉͚̱̩̺͖͈̱̘͝͞n̸̙̖̤͟u͖̟̳͇͏̴ ̶̮̜̥̱̯͠u̵̗̝̭ı̗̹̺͍̳͔͞ͅǝ̡̯̗̮͈̻̞̪ͅ҉s͕̫̯͔̕͝ͅ ͍͓̙͖̮̬̼̜͏ʇ̹͈̪͈͉̙͎u̦̱̹͎̖̱҉͡o͈̥̦̩͏͠ṕ̨̹̭̬͎͙̠̕ͅ ͍̩̟̼̯̙̗͇ǝ̢̝̟̞͚̹ɯ̷̨̖̳̩̱͠ɐ͓̯ ̷̩̯͚͖́˙̴̧̙̪͝ʇ̸̬̜̱͕̝̰͟ı̻͚̮̣̼͎̙͚̺͜n͚p̛̣̮̜̺͖ư̲͖̣̥̣̲̰̰o̯̠̭̙̱҉̀̕ɔ͇̻̠̞͢͠͞ͅ
̷̦͙͎̳͈̥̲̝͟ʇ̥̯̱͞ù͖͖̰̳͜ǝ͖͉u͍͕̻̭̣͡u͖̙̗̰̠̝̳͍͔͞ó̧̻̜͍̱͍̺p̷̢̩͔̳͖̼ ̰̞͢͏ɐ̵̛̟̣͓̳͟ɯ̝͓̠̗̥͝͡ɹ̡̟͓͉̟̙̟́ı̷̘̮͢͜ɟ̪͎̪̣̗͝҉ɟ̡͍͉͚̯͉̱́ɐ̷̢͙̺ ̴̠͙̪̳̻͡ɹ͕̯̠҉̷ɐ̷̭d̳̹̞̺̻͇̺ ͔̻̦̖͓̰͔̝҉̕ן̯̤̘͈̗̕͟n̞͔̠͉̪̦̳u̲̥̮̰ ͈̲̦̙͖͍͜ʇ̡̛̠ı̬̤̞̻̝͈̬̺҉͞ɹ̛͇̟̖̫̙͖̟ḓ̛̞̥̪̤͍̖͖ɯ̖̺̺͚̯̕ò̯̣̹̦͇͞ɔ̷̢̛̘͍ ͇͔̯̘̠̘̙͍̮҉҉̨˙͍̮̜̳̥̭͙ı̣̯̗̫̜͍̠ǹ̗̣̹̤͈̺͎̮͉͞b͚͕̙̱̀͡ ̴̖̺̠̗͢s̴̨̰̦͇͎̳̮̕ǝ͓̣̯͕̀u̶̶͎̺͞ͅu̴̙͇̱̣̱̣̰̙͘ò̩͎̞͈̯͉̯̕ן͚̦̻̯̥̣҉҉o̻̣͈͚̖̬̱͞ͅɔ̣̰͙҉͏ ̡̱̜̲͙̩͉̼̀ͅɹ̶͍̙̳̳͔̫̠̀n̬̰ͅs̖͙͡ ̵ͅs͕̣̭̤̪͕̀͢ͅǝ̷̙̙͔̪̲͠͡ɹ̤͍ɐ̢̹̦̮̙͠q̗͕̻̕͠͏ɹ̷̲͙̟̝̙̤ɐ̵̢͕̠͖͈̱̙̦͇
q̴̡͚̗͈̲͕̻͘ ̛̫̠̙̕ͅʇ̥͖̜̲̦o̺͍̯̣͟͡ʇ̜̜̟̫̼̙͏͟ ̛̹̤̼͢͢ǝ̝̯̥̞̭̭̜ͅu͕̱͙͈̦̖̗̘o̷̠̜͕͔̦̗̥͠҉b̭͝o̫̲ʇ̨̱̥̱̱̻̤̟̥͜ɔ͙̳̟͓͉̙͙̲o̢͈̝̦̩͔̬̟͟ͅ҉ ̢̠̩̙̝̝͉̫̙͜ɹͅ҉̴ǝ̀ͅɥ̡̲̼̝͉͏ɔ̤̲̹̟̖̺̘̱҉ǝ̤̟̤̯͚͢d̸͉̦ɯ̤͓͕̦̼́ǝ̱̱̮̱͚҉ ̶̛͔̮̰̼҉s̢͇̮̬͕͕ʇ̸̨͖̟̯̩̺̻̻̹͝ɹ̷̖̝̜̖̖̦̘̘̣̀͡ɐ̺̥̟̻͈͈̗͢͟d̨̯̳͙͖̭ɯ̶̦̙͙ǝ͕̥҉҉̶ɹ̠̞̦͈͈̣̻̕͝ ̰̞̀͠ͅɔ̦͚͎̼͈̳͚̲ı̜͚̩̠̮͇̮d

You hurridly reach for the notes of 'translation' that the
Mystics gave to you. You can make out a few words
clearly to form several fractured sentences. "What... ghoul?"

Ghouls? It means Ghostly Iqena, right?
Well that seems clear enough.

The draeck seems nervous...
Maybe it wants to get rid of it's hostage quickly?

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Captured Iqena


extra arms - eyes (21) - long fluffy tail - nicked ear - extra mouth - large antlers - stitched mouth

bandages

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The draeck shakes its head, confused by the babble of the beings that came to rescue its prisoner. It stands still for a long moment, its floating neck disks move quickly. After a long moment the draeck flares its wings and takes off, disappearing into the gloom.

It's gone for quite a while, maybe it didn't like any of the answers and won't return the iqena? Or maybe it's asking which response is acceptable? Either way, the draeck is taking a rather long time.

After several charged minutes, the huge beast comes back -and it's carrying something!


It awkwardly lands on one leg and glares at its chosen winner, Sean Erin, before setting down the iqena and flying off again

username;; Sean Erin. Pleased to meet you.
name;; Eponymous. I chose this name as it almost seemed like it meant he had no name at all. The word 'Eponymous' means 'named after something'. As it's not specific what he is named after, it could be that he is named after nothing or everything, leaving him with no name at all.
gender;; Male.
answer;; You glance to the side and then shift your weight onto your other foot. You are not quite sure what to do, but you do know the answer. You might as well show off the knowledge if you know it. "To answer this question fully, it is best to explain the whole process of life and death in the eyes of many Iquena. I say many because not all believe in this 'afterlife'. However, as it is the general belief, I think it is safe to explain it to you. All Iquena are born for the first time. This is the time before they come be reincarnated or otherwise 're'born (more on that later). They all die at some point as well. The most common ways--a 'fair' death, an 'unjust' death, and an 'honorable' death--lead to different states of being. A 'fair' death just leads to a permanent death, with no way of coming back or sticking around. An 'honorable' death leads to the highest privilege of all, becoming a Mystic. An 'unjust' death results in the information you are looking for, a vengeful spirit and/or ghost. This spirit will wander around forever, searching for revenge on whoever or whatever forced them into this 'unjust' death. If they get their revenge, the return to the beginning of the cycle, to birth. However, if they do not gain their revenge they continue to wander, forever a ghost. They remain this way without question."

Congratulations, you successfully rescued an iqena! I wouldn't suggest trying this again though, as you might not be so lucky

[pep]

username; bodt
name; aster nilalo
gender; female
answer; iqena ghosts, you say? when an iqena finds its death in a scenario where it is unjust to it, the murder is usually not punished, but the ghost is left to walk the earth forever. the iqena has a task and if they fulfill their task they may be reborn! however, if this task may not be fulfilled or completed, they will sulk the earth in ghost form forever. say an iqena is murdered: that iqena will become a ghost, and its task may be to lead its killer to their death.

[koi97]

username;;
:~Koi~:

name;;
Akuma
Means Demon in Japanese.

gender;;
Male

answer;;
With most Iqena, they are born of the soul of a vengeful spirit. The vengeful spirits are created when the creature had an unjust death, and thus, it wants revenge. All new Iqena are born from these spirits.

While when an Iqena has an honorable death, they become a mystic, which are the more 'god' like beings of Iqena.

[Sora Kurai]

Just to clarify, I meant Iqena ghosts. I keep calling them ghouls in my head for some reason.

*Also, ending this after the first post on page 3, not 2

[finoodle]

username;; B L A Z E
name;; Naradia
gender;; Female
answer;; A Iqena ghost is a sad soul, who is destined to walk the earth for eternity until it finds who killed it. There are only a few Iqena ghosts yet when there is one it is not pleasant. The ghost attaches itself to an item in the place where it died. Then until the killer comes back to the place it is released because it knows who killed it, sadly even with that the killer must tell why for the soul to be released. Most Iquena see the killer but never know why, that means that there soul is left to wait. After each year the soul or Iqena gets stronger until finally it is able to make things move and so on. These Iquena are not to be messed with or they can call to objects in the room to "Help" them. The saddest part is when the killer dies, so the Iquena will never know why maybe not even who, that makes them very sad and twice as unpleasant.

[aiu]

username;; Sean Erin. Pleased to meet you.
name;; Eponymous. I chose this name as it almost seemed like it meant he had no name at all. The word 'Eponymous' means 'named after something'. As it's not specific what he is named after, it could be that he is named after nothing or everything, leaving him with no name at all.
gender;; Male.
answer;; You glance to the side and then shift your weight onto your other foot. You are not quite sure what to do, but you do know the answer. You might as well show off the knowledge if you know it. "To answer this question fully, it is best to explain the whole process of life and death in the eyes of many Iquena. I say many because not all believe in this 'afterlife'. However, as it is the general belief, I think it is safe to explain it to you. All Iquena are born for the first time. This is the time before they come be reincarnated or otherwise 're'born (more on that later). They all die at some point as well. The most common ways--a 'fair' death, an 'unjust' death, and an 'honorable' death--lead to different states of being. A 'fair' death just leads to a permanent death, with no way of coming back or sticking around. An 'honorable' death leads to the highest privilege of all, becoming a Mystic. An 'unjust' death results in the information you are looking for, a vengeful spirit and/or ghost. This spirit will wander around forever, searching for revenge on whoever or whatever forced them into this 'unjust' death. If they get their revenge, the return to the beginning of the cycle, to birth. However, if they do not gain their revenge they continue to wander, forever a ghost. They remain this way without question."

[deertush]

username;; Deertush.
I own a single iqena at the moment.

name;; Dumah
Dumah is the angel of silence and of the stillness of death.

gender;; Agender / Void of Gender
Dumah does not identify with any gender. Xe / Xyr / Xyrself

answer;; Mortal Creature → Mortal Death(honorable) → Iqena → Iqena Death(dishonorable) → Iqena Ghoul
Once an iqena has been brought into The Realm, they have the opportunity to live and flourish as any other being may. However, if something/someone were to cause a cruel death(murder, accidental, self, etc.) then that specific iqena will be brought back to The Realm as a ghoul(AKA; ghost).

A ghoul's purpose is to somehow fix whatever had gone wrong to cause their death. If such things are not possible then they shall remain a ghoul.

I probably shouldn't try out but I am in love with this design whoops

[Katie_monkey]

username;; Hello mister- o-or miss draeck. You could be a girl, or you may not have a gender, nothing wrong with that heheh. I am Katie_monkey, bu-but you don't need to remember that if you don't want to of course! *nervous chuckle*
name;; *glances at iqena* That's pseudo, well, her whole name is pseudonym, though I guess you don't care about that.
gender;; Pseudo's a girl, but uh, that's beside the point I'll just go on and answer your question.
answer;; (in your own words)
*ahem* OK, so ghost iqena! You see, if an iqena dies in a sad or cruel or bad way, like if they're murdered or if they die accidentally like they, I-I don't know, get run over or fall off a cliff somehow, I mean they have wings so how they'd fall... Never mind! The point is bad death equals ghosts, er, ghouls as you call 'em. These um, ghouls have to be ghouls until they get revenge or avenge their death or fix it or whatever. An-and a bit of a recommendation, was that word too long? I mean, a tip for you, try to avoid meeting one of those ghos-ghouls, Imeanghouls, they tend to be rather... vengeful, so they may not be the most friendly, *looks at draeck* though I doubt you need to worry about that. Ok, just to recap, bad death makes ghoul, ghoul must avenge their death or they stay ghoul, ghouls are usually revenge driven. Did you, did you get all that? Are we good here?

[Kenjaku]

username;; Graham
name;; Elim
gender;; Nonbinary
answer;; The easiest way to explain it? If an Iqena dies a wrongful death, they come back as a ghost or a ghoul. Ghouls can go on to claim revenge and be reborn, but many may live on as ghouls without revenge.

[gomi.]

username;; Lisa Kashnovi
name;; Aveugle, sightless in French. IDK why.
gender;; Male
answer;; I took a deep breath and thought this over. If i said the wrong answer, would something terrible happen? I shook my head. "Iquena #9 is a ghost. He's a ghost because he died an unjust death. He has something he needs to do, and if he fulfills this task he will be reborn as a baby Iquena. If not, he will be a ghost forever."